Royal Bliss

I just had to post about this new CD that Ryan and I have. Royal Bliss. The album is called after the Chaos II. Neither of us can stop listening to this CD, we listened to it the whole time we were in Moab, driving to Moab, driving back from Moab, in the car, in the house...I LOVE IT! Royal Bliss is a local band out of Salt Lake that is just beginning to get some publicity and I really hope that this band makes it. If you guys get a chance, go to their website and if nothing else, listen to my new favorite song sweet Rosie. I absolutely Love it!!

Miscelaneous Moab

Uh, its been awhile since we've put up a tent...thats Ryan laughing

Making s'mores with Paxton at the campfire

Sarah and myself, I am totally focused on not leaning here! I finally have my baby back!

Wheeling

We went four wheeling on two different days. The first day was more of a family day where we took the Gemini Bridges trail and had lunch with the kids. The second day we did the Steel Bender trail. Ryan and I actually feel really bad because we ended up doing a trail that really wasn't too exciting for everyone because we were in a rental and had to be extremely careful. Next time the bronco will be there though...and we can hit it hard, we promise! 20 hrs! We got some really cool pictures of Wolf in his rig because we were following him. I will post more when I get a chance. I felt like the pictures of him were right out of the movie Cars and he was Towmater. He did really well!

Sarah sent me these picture of us in the Kick-A#$ Rubicon...it actually did awesome. We didn't even have to use the lockers, it crawled up everything.

the boys

We had the best weekend, it seems like it has been such a long time since I have had a vacation that I enjoyed so much. (mostly because we don't vacation much). Paxton had a blast with his cousins too. It was cool to see them all pal around. These pictures are of the boys hanging out. I hope you guys like pictures!

The first day we got together before our trip to Moab, Paxton showed Boston and Calvin his motorcycle. If you will notice, he is in his gear, he wears it just about every day now.

This one below is in Moab. The boys are all hiding from me in the bushes. Its almost impossible to get a picture of all of them looking at once!
by the way..if you need a slinger Stone Pro is where you should go!
Paxton and Calvin with their flashlights the first night we camped.
Paxton and Calvin got a ride from JP on the trail 90. The both of them sat on this bike all of the time. If we weren't out doing something, you would find one of them on this bike just hanging out.
King of the mountain

5 Years

Happy Anniversary

its been a long night...

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

Bitter-Sweet

Well, its that time of year, and I GOT THE WEEKEND OFF!! WOOHOO! Moab, here we come! We have family coming and I cannot wait to see all of them! Dan and Sarah are going to be here Friday and we get to hang out with them that night. We just don't see them enough man. Then JP and Christi will be here and we will be heading down with Jenn and Aaron. I wish that we could all get together more often but it just doesn't happen.

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Ryan's beautiful bronco is still not quite trail ready so we are going to rent this time around and I am kind of excited to rent. They have Jeep Rubicon's that you can rent and I think it will be a bit less stressful to me to have a vehicle that we don't own out there. This coming from the girl who wrecked my Cherokee out in Moab with my loved ones inside...and we weren't even wheeling at the time. Anyway, I can't wait to see everyone! It's going to be AWESOME!

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The bitter part about this is that Gauge is too small to go. I am going to take him to my Mom's this weekend as she is kind enough to watch him for me. I already miss him. The other girls are going to be taking their little one's but I just feel like he is going to suffer. We are in the heat, we are walking or going over bumpy terrain, I won't be able to pay as much attention to Paxton and be making sure that he isn't underneath a wheel...I just think its a bad idea to take him. So as excited as I am, I am dreading leaving Gauge.
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Here are some pictures from 1 previous trip that we took a LONG time ago. This one was fun, we took a semi and hauled a lot of our vehicles out there. Yeah, this would be the year that Ryan and I took a Toyota Pickup that sounded like a sewing machine...not our best show. One day it will be all about the bronco and on the down low, Ryan and I are starting to think about the possibilities of wheeling the FJ-60. That would be cool too!

The next couple of pictures are from Rubicon summer of 06, but I didn't post many because they had myself in them and I was an unpleasant 5mo prego...and it was very humid...enough said: This one below is JP in his awesome Scrambler

At the trailhead entrance

some BIG milestones

Well it happened, today my little man got his first little tooth. It is just poking through but it is there and number two is right behind.

I feel like these boys are already growing up so fast. Gauge is going to be 1 before we know it! We did hit some milestones this week and one that I am VERY proud of...Paxton now calls me Mom! Not Mommy or Ma, not Whyee or Whit, but Maaaooom. He almost sings it every time he calls me. One of my friends at work told me to not respond to Whitney anymore and he would start calling me Mommy. I tried it but it didn't quite work until Ryan starting calling me Mom and having Paxton say it every time he wanted me. It is such a beautiful word. I feel like I am finally a Mom. Now I don't get myself confused with Woody who is also a close sounding "Wooy" when Paxton is talking.

Another thing that Ryan and I have noticed is that overall Paxton is trying a lot harder to speak. Before, we couldn't get him to try at all, as though he just wasn't ready. Now, he repeats what we say to his best ability and we are realizing how much he really does say. One big word that I wish he did not know is "Mine" He has hit that stage where everything is his and he is going to drive me crazy! Also, he finally says (and may I say he does it with quite a bit of passion) "NO"
It has to be his favorite word right now. I really can't wait for the terrible two's to end. He isn't really that bad, we don't get too many tantrums, but he just isn't the kid that I know.

Gauge is no longer happy just sitting around and watching everyone and I have to say, it is totally my fault. I really really spoil that kid. I am a little afraid for my Mom this weekend who has been kind enough to watch Gauge for us when we take a small trip. I have been holding him like crazy and have been singing him to sleep. I just can't get enough of the kid and it is turning into a bad thing. He is also already growing out of his current clothes. He hit a growth spurt recently where he only slept and ate and now he just seems huge. This kid still smiles like crazy too, every chance he gets and it still melts my heart every time. He and Paxton play really well together now and when Paxton pushes his stroller or sits down next to him at the Saucer Gauge stops what he is doing and just smiles at him. I feel like they are going to be close. I sure hope so. They are such wonderful boys! It would make me so happy to have them always be close.

Another very nice thing we got to do this weekend was go to my nephue and Paxton's cousin Colby's 5th birthday party. I will always remember his birthday because he was born the week that Ryan and I were married. He seemed to have an awesome time but the best part was having Paxton hang out with his cousins. As soon as he got to the party he and Colby were scaling a little playground Col has in his room. There were balloons and treats, he had such a blast. Something nice for me is that I finally got to hang out with my brothers and sisters. We all live such different lives and I feel like we have grown so far apart. I really enjoyed just talking and laughing with everyone and being able to relax. My parents also came and it was so good to see them. You don't realize how much you miss people until you get to see them. My Dad hugged me for such a long time. I really miss his hugs. It is really hard growing up sometimes you know? I feel like our family used to be so close and now, while we are starting families and finding our places in the world there just isn't any time. Anyway, we had a great time!! Thanks John and Beth for inviting us to Colby's party!! I love you all so much!

Flashback Friday

Today I decided to enter a letter that I wrote to Paxton when he was smaller. I wanted to put this in his baby book, but thought it would be a good idea to put it here for him as well.

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Paxton, I had to write you a letter today to let you know how much I love you and how happy you make me. Yesterday I put you down to bed and whether I liked it or not, you were not ready to sleep even though you were rubbing your eyes and obviously tired. I figured that since Dad was away for awhile longer, that I had a minute to play with you and tonight it all just hit me really hard again, how really wonderful you are.

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I was sitting on the ground beside your crib and you were inside. I pulled up the crib bumper and said "peek a boo" You smiled so big and then you laughed. I pulled the bumper all of the way down while you were watching and smiling, when I said "peek a boo" again, you broke out into laughter. We must have played this game over and over again for at least 15 minutes. Every time you would be a step ahead of me, and you would just start laughing. We laughed so hard. I loved that so much that while I laughed I began to cry. I was overwhelmed with love for you. I had no idea that being a mother would be this wonderful. Your smile already lights up a room at only months old.

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Tonight, I put you to bed when you did not want to go. When I went in your room to settle you down your eyes were closed and you acted like you were sleeping. I covered you in blankets and stepped back. You actually peeked at me Paxton, you peeked at me! When I saw it I had to laugh, your whole face then started to smile and you laughed too. I was again overcome with emotion. Paxton Ryder I love you so much. You have made our lives so happy with your peaceful happy spirit. I love you I love you I love you!

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When I wrote this letter to you I was so overwhelmed I was bawling my eyes out, that's why it may not make a whole lot of sense. I have to admit that when I first became a mom, I was in a zone. Feed, sleep, change your clothes, get it done! It took me quite a while to step back and realize that I could enjoy myself with you and that I could enjoy being a mother. I am so proud of you Paxton. You are still such a sweetheart and you try so hard to be a good boy. I want you to know that Dad and I love you so much honey! love, Mom

Drug free Deputy

Paxton is a huge fan of Policeman and Fireman. Every time we pass a policeman on the street, or a fire truck he gets really excited. I wish that somehow I could explain to him that I work with these guys. He doesn't understand that yet, but I thought that I would take advantage of the fact that I work somewhere that he loves anyway...

One of my friends was kind enough to come to my house and allow me to take pictures of Paxton and the new Police Charger. As you can tell, he was pretty excited.

The officer gave him a badge to wear that read "Drug free Deputy" Paxton was really proud of it

Full view of the ChargerPaxton driving "Code" (lights)
Hanging out with officer friendly, he is actually getting tickled here so I think I caught the officer off guard. Thanks Paul, for letting me do this!

the Week

Here are some random pictures from this past week.

Below is Paxton on the fire engine at Walmart. Every time he sees the store, or now, even if we are driving in the direction of Walmart he asks to go on the fire engine. He actually makes the noise of a fire engine every time

I just HAD to get a picture of this. He will usually put Ryan's shoes on and walk around. This time he was calling me and this is what I found when I got to him. He was quite proud.
When we had Paxton everyone that I worked with at the hospital told me to get a saucer (different from a walker). I never did, but decided I would try it now that we have Gauge. I feel like Gauge is always laying down and that he never gets a chance to stand while I am doing chores or paying attention to Paxton. The Saucer is PERFECT for him and I recommend it to everyone! He absolutely loves it too. He was so happy about it that we couldn't even get him to go to sleep that night, he just layed in bed smiling... really! Later during the week I took the boys outside to play. Paxton loves getting into Ryan's things, so he grabbed his welding gear, and he put it on all by himself
and this picture is Paxton hiding. I was trying to teach him how to play hide and seek, this is what I sought. I laughed so hard!
My baby Gauge, notice the shoes, he looks so grown up!
Last but not least, Paxton got a hair cut and he wanted me to take a picture.